Thursday, May 26, 2011

Back in February, we told you about feral pigs down in the CJ Strike WMA south of Boise. Curious about the progress of Idaho Fish and Game in eliminating the pig problem, I talked to Bill London, IDFG district conservation officer.

Boise Weekly: After all the hoopla about the pigs, do you have any harvest report numbers?Bill London: We did not have any pig harvests reported this year. We did have a sighting reported. IDFG and Wildlife Services responded to the sighting with tracking dogs. Although pig sign was found, the pigs were not.

Do you think that the public dissemination of information hurt or helped the effort of pig eradication?The media coverage was helpful in that it increased the public’s awareness of how and why pigs are detrimental to wildlife and agriculture. The public interest was a bit worrisome to some Bruneau residents who had to contend with numerous requests to hunt on their private property.

Any other news or notes you think might need to be passed along to the public about pig hunting?No new news on pigs from here. If anyone sees more pigs, please report it immediately so that we can address the problem. IDFG and Wildlife Services continue to monitor for pigs.